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Hûb Helchui
Hûb Helchui (S. "Icy Bay", Q. "Hûpa Helkê") was a Bay,bordered on the south by the Lôdalf (the Wash Tundra).The Ice Bay (which froze earlier and more thoroughly than the larger bay of Forochel) was the site of the death of Arvedui of Arthedain in 1975, as well as the Elven rescue party. Sometime after this, an ice-drake named Gondring settled in the Blue Mountains adjacent to the Ice Bay, and hunted across the region. Gondring's natural skills at camouflage, and the abandonment of the Elven watch at Tir Bronadui in Lothlann, meant that she prospered on the edge of Lindon. Icy Bay The mapmakers of the Dúnedain often confused Hûb Helchui with the larger Bay of Forochel (of which it was but a small inlet). The Icy Bay was bounded on the west by the Blue Mountains, by the Wash Tundra to the south and, to the north, by the open plain lying south of the Bay of Cracking Ice and west of the Emyn Nimbrith. The freshwater of the tundra froze at a higher temperature than the saltwater of the bay, and so a great deal of ice covered Hûb Helchui in winter. This ice gradually filled the bay until it was able to work its way through the small inlet to Forochel. It was to Hûb Helchui that Arvedui, Last-king of Arthedain, escaped during the ruin of his realm in T.A. 1974. In summer, the Lumimiehet of the Wash Tundra used Hûb Helchui as a convenient passage to the more open waters of the Bay of Forochel; in winter, snow bears wandered its frozen surface, hunting for seal, or crossing southward to the fish-laden rivers of the tundra beyond. The northwestern shores nearest the Blue Mountains formed low cliffs, rising from ten to a hundred feet from the surface of the bay. It was dangerous for a boat to pass beneath these cliffs, as the ice of countless winters caused them to flake and crack. The stone could give way without warning and come crashing down in a splashing roar. These rockfalls were most common in spring and autumn (during which time the cliffs were repeatedly frozen, thawed and refrozen). The Lumimiehet called the booming noise of the collapse Kiviääni, the Voice of the Stone, saying that it heralded the beginning of spring and autumn. The southern shores of Hûb Helchui formed a single, arching strand of small pebbles and wave-smoothed rock. At its western and eastern ends, the long beach was interrupted by the streams of the Wash Tundra. The bay's northeastern shore was rocky and boulder-strewn, but neither so cliff-like nor so beach-like as the other shores. Seals had chosen these stony shores for their playground, and during the summer could be found here in great numbers. The northwestern coast of Hûb Helchui was dominated by the great gap that opened onto the Bay of Forochel proper. Here, the last ice-covered hills and tors of the Blue Mountains marched out to the tip of the peninsula. Hûb Helchui was the most familiar of all Forochel's inlets to the Rivermen of Eriador and other travelers from the South. After the fall of Angmar in T.A. 1975, Gondring the ice-drake made Hûb Helchui her home. For long years she laired in the mountains of northern Angmar, but after its fall the pickings grew too slim to support her, so she settled in an ice-cave of the Blue Mountains overlooking the bay. Gondring now dined on seal and fish, and (during the summer migration period) on roaming reindeer and elk. The dragon's translucent scales took on the color of her surroundings, and she could move with equally surprising quickness over ice and snow or underwater. When dealing with Men, Elves or Dwarves, Gondring prefered to mesmerize her victims into delivering knowledge, treasure or larger prey into her hands. References *Jeff J. Erwin:A Traveler's Guide to Lindon Category:Bay Category:Forochel Category:MERP